Home Office

Asylum: Children

Baroness Hamwee: To ask His Majesty's Government how manyunaccompanied children went missing from Home Office commissioned hotel accommodation in each month in the period from April to October.

Baroness Hamwee: To ask His Majesty's Government how many referrals to the National Referral Mechanism regarding unaccompanied children seeking asylum and placed in Home Office commissioned accommodation were made in each month from July to October.

Baroness Hamwee: To ask His Majesty's Government how manyserious incident notifications regarding unaccompanied children seeking asylum and placed in Home Office commissioned accommodation were made to the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel in the period from April to October.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: We take the welfare of those in our care extremely seriously. We have safeguarding procedures in place to ensure all unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in emergency interim hotels are as safe and supported as possible whilst we seek urgent placements with a local authority. Young people are supported by team leaders and support workers who are on site 24 hours a day. Further care is provided in hotels by teams of social workers and nurses.The Home Office has no power to hold asylum seekers, including children, in hotels or any temporary accommodation if they wish to leave.All Home Office staff and contractors engaging with asylum seekers are trained to adopt a risk-based approach towards potential indications of vulnerability and to refer relevant cases onto the Safeguarding Hub, a dedicated resource assigned to identifying and safeguarding vulnerable asylum seekers.Safeguarding Hub staff advocate for an individual’s needs with the statutory agencies to promote appropriate safeguarding interventions. The statutory agencies retain responsibility for all decisions on intervention activity.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Biometrics: Data Protection

Lord Strathcarron: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the data protection and privacy risks posed by private facial recognition companies such as PimEyes to UK citizens.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: All organisations in the UK which process personal data, including biometric data, have to comply with the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent regulator for data protection and is responsible for providing advice and guidance on compliance with the UK’s data protection laws.The ICO is currently considering whether PimEyes’s practices may raise data protection concerns. It would not be appropriate for His Majesty’s Government to comment on an ongoing ICO consideration.

Public Libraries: Finance

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure local libraries are protected from any reductions in spending; and what encouragement they will give to local authorities to protect such libraries.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 makes available £54.1 billion for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. The majority of this funding is not ring-fenced, including funding of library services, in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities and needs.Local authorities in England have a statutory duty to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service which meets local needs. It is for each local authority to consider how best to deliver this statutory duty within available resources.

Sportsgrounds: Safety Measures

Lord Birt: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Parkinson of Whitley Bay on 24 October (HL2798), by what date they expect appropriate safety measures to be in place for major sports events staged at (1) Wembley, and (2) other major arenas in the UK.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: The safety and security of major sporting events across the UK is of paramount importance. Appropriate safety measures are put in place for major sports events, in line with the needs of the event and the venue, according to event-specific schedules. The adequacy of these plans are considered by locally-convened Safety Advisory Groups, and Safety Certificates are issued by the relevant local authority.In the case of Wembley Stadium, which presents a number of unique challenges, significant work has been undertaken by the Football Association and its key partners since Baroness Casey of Blackstock’s report, as successfully demonstrated during the UEFA Women’s Euros and other high-profile events.The Sports Grounds Safety Authority continues to offer world-leading expertise to sports venues in their regulatory and advisory capacities.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Water Companies: Environment Protection

Baroness Redfern: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the request by the former Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in September for water companies to set out their plans for improving environmental performance and infrastructure, when they plan to publish (1) the responses from water companies to this request, and (2) their analysis of the responses.

Lord Benyon: As the Secretary of State requested, we have received letters from all water companies on how they plan to make improvements, and we are now working with them to establish where they can do more and opportunities to speed up delivery.We will respond shortly regarding Potential infrastructure projects and opportunities.

Dairy Farming: Exports

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have tosupport the growth in sales of UK dairy products abroad.

Lord Benyon: The Government is committed to supporting the dairy sector capitalise on the strong demand for British products across the world, drawing on our reputation for quality and high standards of production, welfare and food safety.We are focused on enabling British dairy exporters to access as many international markets as possible. In addition to removing trade barriers through negotiation of new Free Trade Agreements we are boosting our technical expertise in key markets through expansion of our network of dedicated agri-food attachés to 10 posts across the globe. These roles resolve market access barriers, support export growth and provide market insight to enable British companies to target markets with the highest potential. There is strong export potential for dairy products and a growing international reputation, especially for cheese. Our attaches will work with dairy companies to build our market share further and generate further awareness and demand.As well as maximising market access, the Government is working with the sector to build capability and competitiveness in international markets. The new UK-wide Food and Drink Exports Council, which will be launched early next year, brings together industry and Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to boost exports from all parts of the UK and build export capability in the sector, especially in SMEs. The Department for International Trade provide a broad range of export support to help companies begin or progress their export journey, including advice on entering particular markets and opportunities to showcase products to international buyers.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Housing: Energy

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they require all home insulation and energy efficiency products recommended for retrofitting domestic properties to have (1) the appropriate product accreditation, (2) building regulations approval, and (3) evidence of gas safety compliance.

Lord Callanan: The installation of insulation or energy efficiency products must comply with all relevant technical requirements in Building Regulations. Ecodesign policy sets minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) which energy using products must meet when placed on the market. These must be sold with an energy label to help consumers identify the most efficient products. Compliance with MEPS and energy labelling are underpinned by robust test standards and the UKCA conformity marking. All energy efficient products that burn gaseous fuels must be safe, demonstrating compliance with Regulation 2016/426 on appliances which burn gaseous fuels before being placed on the GB market.

Department for Education

European University Institute: Brexit

Lord Smith of Finsbury: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from the Deputy Director of the Department of Education’s Disadvantage and International Directorate dated 24 October, what consideration they have given to replacing “does not include” with “includes” in section 7 of the European University Institute (EU Exit) Regulations 2022.

Baroness Barran: While the UK’s membership of the European University Institute (EUI) convention ceased on exit of the EU, the department put in place an extension of its previous arrangements with the EUI beyond the end of the transition period, until 31 December 2022. This was to protect the status of UK-linked staff and students at the EUI, so that they could continue in their posts and with their studies while options for a future relationship with the EUI were considered.Long standing government policy is to only grant privileges and immunities where there is a demonstrated and robust functional need for the running of the institution and never solely for personal benefit. In this case, in the absence of a negotiated international treaty compelling the government to do so, the department is unable to continue to grant privileges and immunities to EUI staff and students, including the UK linked ones.The saving of the income tax privilege and the legal proceedings immunity for current staff is as considered appropriate and/or intended to give a reasonable period for those staff at the EUI to adjust, and they will be saved in relation to the current term of the staff member’s employment contract without extension.

Oak National Academy: Publishing

Lord Knight of Weymouth: To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Department for Education sought evidence from the education publishing sector about the market impact of Oak National Academy afterthe full scope and budget was known in September.

Lord Knight of Weymouth: To ask His Majesty's Government whether their assessmentof the market impact of Oak National Academy in the educational publishing sector was made prior to that organisation becoming an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education.

Baroness Barran: The decision to establish Oak National Academy was taken with due regard to a robust assessment of market impact, which was informed by the commercial sector. Monitoring market impact is a priority and will continue throughout Oak National Academy’s lifetime. Results will be factored into the body’s ongoing evaluation and two-year review.As an integral part of the process to set up Oak National Academy as an arm’s length body, the department produced a business case which included an assessment of potential market impact, including in the educational publishing sector. This business case was published on GOV.UK on 1 November 2022: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oak-national-academy-business-case.